With the increased popularity of the Internet, network purchasing services, e.g., Web sites that enable users to make purchases online, have become increasingly accepted and popular. The advantages of purchasing from/through network purchasing services are numerous. For example, network purchasing services offer a wide selection of products to choose from, price comparisons for the cost conscious, and the convenience of shopping for an item from anywhere a customer may have access to a shopping service, rather than making a trip to a particular store. However, some aspects associated with purchasing goods and services (i.e., “items”) from network purchasing services can deter a customer from purchasing items online. For example, shipping and handling costs of an item may be perceived as an extra cost to the customer, particularly if the item can be purchased locally at a similar price. A long delivery time may be perceived as an inconvenience to the customer if the customer wishes to have the item immediately. Further, a customer may want to physically inspect or compare items prior to purchase. In such cases, the customer may want to purchase the item from local stores after locating information regarding the item from various network purchasing services.
In some situations, information about an item (such as pricing availability, selection, etc.) needs to be obtained from many local stores that have not yet established any online presence, or have an online presence unfamiliar to a customer. In one aspect, the customer can obtain the information relating to items through advertising. However, most local stores reach potential clients via offline advertising techniques: printed advertisements in newspapers and magazines, direct mailings, television commercials, radio commercials, yellow pages advertisements, sponsorships, etc. Moreover, for the local stores (offline stores) that have not yet established any online presence, the information relating to items is distributed within a limited local geographic area, typically on a town, city or county level. In another aspect, customers can obtain the information relating to items available at the offline stores mainly via a traditional method, such as making a telephone call to the offline merchants, walking into the store of the offline merchants, or reading the traditional advertisements, which can be time consuming and costly.